Kora’s “Taraketi” is a re-recording of their 2004 reggae classic “Politician” in Te Reo Māori, the native tongue of Aotearoa/New Zealand and one of its two official languages.
The song's fundamental question “E taea te where tika, Mō tatou e?” is timeless, and especially poignant in these polarised times – “Can you make a right decision, for all of us?”
The song has become an anthem both home and abroad for the disenfranchised and had already been heard sung, informally translated into Te Reo Māori, before this recording.
Despite the subject matter, it is an upbeat reggae affair, with guitar skanks and floating synths framing it as a song of positive protest via enquiry.
Not pertaining to any one politician or social issue, party or political position, the lyrics of the song ask fundamental questions of the listener, inviting them to consider the role that leaders and politicians play in the world today, and consequently, in their own lives.
Produced by the bands founding members Fran Kora and Dan McGruer, the re-recording has not just been rewritten for the project, Taraketi is a completely fresh take on the original featuring an additional guitar solo from Joel Shadbolt of L.A.B, while that bassline and those harmonies allow the lyrics to shine through classic Kora funky reggae.